NBA champion center Tristan Thompson: Transitioning into an encryption pioneer in the twilight of his career

Author: Zen, PANews

This summer, Tristan Thompson, nicknamed TT, who has spent 14 years in the NBA, is basically saying goodbye to his professional career. The veteran, positioned as a blue-collar center, finds it difficult to secure another job in the NBA at the age of 34.

For many fans, TT's fame mainly comes from winning the championship with LeBron James for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, as well as his tumultuous relationship with Khloé Kardashian, which has been filled with scandals and attempts at forgiveness.

Last September, although TT was completely out of competitive form, his old team, the Cavaliers, still signed him to a one-year veteran minimum contract worth about 3.3 million dollars, out of sentiment for their past relationship.

As the season ended, TT, being a free agent, found himself overlooked in the market. He had already foreseen this situation and had started to plan his transition to an unexpected arena - cryptocurrency.

Support decentralized science, launch a crypto podcast to share blockchain knowledge

On June 26, 2025, in an exclusive interview with People magazine, TT revealed that he will serve as the Chief Advisory Officer of the decentralized science platform AxonDAO, hoping to help the public take control of their medical data. He stated that he is "very inclined towards things that can truly help society," praising the crypto and blockchain space for "creating amazing things that change the world every day."

Compared to last summer's "meme token craze," TT emphasizes the importance of applying artificial intelligence and blockchain to practical scenarios like healthcare. He stated that the AxonDAO project, which combines AI with health, is significant to him because his brother Amari suffers from severe epilepsy, which resonates deeply with him. He hopes to help patients like his brother access treatment options worldwide more easily and "ensure that everyone can take control of their health data."

When talking about the trend of athletes seeking a career transition, he stated: "That’s why athletes today are not content with just being athletes… We want to be businessmen, creators, and developers. Personally, I want to be an innovator, always staying a few steps ahead of the times."

In recent years, the NBA has sparked a trend of creating personal podcast shows, from active All-Star players like Paul George and Draymond Green, to retired legends like Steve Nash. This year, TT also launched a podcast. However, unlike others who focus on basketball games and athlete anecdotes, TT's podcast "Courtside Crypto" mainly aims to share blockchain knowledge with other athletes and fans, advocating for young players to pay attention to the opportunities and risks in the crypto industry.

On August 4, 2025, TT visited the White House as a podcast host and interviewed Bo Hines, the Executive Director of the White House Digital Assets Council at the time. He mentioned that when President Trump declared his intention to become "the cryptocurrency president of America," he and many grassroots people around him were "very excited."

TT stated in an interview that the public has misconceptions about the crypto space: "When people hear 'cryptocurrency', they still only think of scams or speculation. But they don't see how blockchain can impact healthcare, education, and even the way we buy houses. This is an infrastructure revolution, and we need to help everyone understand that."

He further depicted a vision of how cryptocurrency technology would be integrated into daily life: "I hope my children will buy their first house in the future using stablecoins—without bank wire transfers, without a dozen forms to sign, just send a transfer and settle directly, it’s that simple. This is the future we are building."

According to TMZ, on August 11, TT was appointed as the Chief Digital Equity Officer of the telecom blockchain company World Mobile, dedicating himself to the mission of "connecting billions of unconnected people around the world." He stated that he will work towards World Mobile's vision of providing affordable internet services using peer-to-peer distributed nodes, focusing on solving the connectivity challenges in remote and impoverished communities.

As part of his responsibilities, TT also launched the "Community Connectivity Fund," investing millions of dollars to strengthen the network infrastructure and pilot projects in vulnerable communities. TMZ joked that TT's multifaceted identity, preparing for his 15th NBA season while participating in World Mobile and several AI startup projects, makes him one of the busiest people in the sports world that year.

Create an On-chain Basketball Fan Interaction Platform****Basketball.fun

Perhaps a return to the NBA is hopeless. On September 18, 2025, TT announced the launch of the on-chain basketball fan interaction platform Basketball.fun before the start of the new NBA season. The project is based on the new public chain Somnia, which went live in early September, aiming to achieve real-time player value assessment through the tokenization of NBA players' performances and fan sentiments, and to enhance fan interaction with the game in a gamified way.

TT said: "This is how we share those moments together; it’s not just about basketball itself. We are creating a space for fans that goes beyond the game, where your participation, passion, and performance truly matter." It is reported that Basketball.fun will not issue a platform token but will focus on underlying blockchain infrastructure and user experience innovation to avoid falling into a model that solely relies on token prices.

However, there have already been several "pioneers" of projects that actually focus on fan tokens under the guise of this fantasy sports mechanism. Basketball.fun, both in name and game mechanics, inevitably reminds people of the previously short-lived sensation Football.fun. Such games seem to have always struggled to avoid the fate of being fleeting.

In a recent interview, TT discussed his latest views and plans for the cryptocurrency industry. He emphasized that he has been deeply involved in the crypto field for over a year, adopting a long-term investment strategy, refusing to issue any personal tokens, and instead focusing on promoting financial education and investment innovation.

TT revealed that its on-chain basketball project Basketball.fun is in preparation, integrating fantasy basketball games and prediction markets to enhance player value assessment through fan interaction, thereby increasing fan engagement in a new way.

"With my current understanding, I would definitely insist on being paid in Bitcoin back then." In May 2025, TT stated in an interview with Cointelegraph Magazine that after he received a big contract, some friends advised him to buy BTC, but he didn't dare to do so because of the volatility. "If I had done that, it would have been the best bet in the history of American sports," TT added.

During the Cavaliers' championship season in 2015-2016, he received a nearly $82 million contract early in the season with close to averages of 8 points and 8 rebounds per game. From the fans' perspective, TT was able to secure such a premium contract mainly because LeBron James, known as "King James," regarded him as a confidant and helped drive up his price. Chinese fans humorously referred to him as the "Eight Virtuous Kings."

Compared to NBA legend Scottie Pippen's occasional claims of "Satoshi Nakamoto's dream" and "Bitcoin speeding to a million," TT appears to be much more pragmatic.

In terms of market prospects, he boldly predicts that "by the end of 2025, the price of Bitcoin could reach $150,000," and believes that if this target is achieved, the altcoin market will also rise accordingly, potentially bringing substantial year-end returns for investors.

In addition, he expressed a desire to take on an executive role at a top cryptocurrency company within the next six months, in order to "drive industry change" and help blockchain technology achieve mass user adoption.

Although this former NBA player's journey in the crypto space has just begun, its development prospects still need to be tested over time.

Reactions from all sectors regarding TT's transformation are varied, but there is a general concern about its future direction. Whether fans or industry insiders, everyone is watching to see if this former basketball champion can score new "points" in the blockchain and cryptocurrency arena.